"Nobody in their right mind would replace a iPod totally with a mp3 phone"
JC posted the following comment on my blog about Apple and their ‘iPhone/whatever’ strategy: –
Nobody in their right mind would replace a iPod totally with a mp3 phone – just check out the cost of downloads. MP3 playing phones will be like camera phones – a nice gimick to sell or upgrade phones and handy to use in a pinch but not as a replacement
Now, I understand the point that JC makes — downloads to mobile handsets can be quite expensive.
It’s precisely for this reason that the other day, when I was on the tube, i spotted an opportunity to take a picture of a girl using her W800i Sony Ericsson. Now, I don’t walk about trying to take secret photos of women, however in this context I wanted to capture a real-life ‘person’ using a mobile handset as a walkman, so that I could document it here on the blog.
The girl in the centre of the picture is seen using her mobile phone complete with high quality headset to listen to music. She did this the whole journey. I could hear the music from her headset. Now and again she fiddled with the playlist, changed songs and so on.
This isn’t a gimmick. This wasn’t a geek like me using technology for technology’s sake. This was an office worker who, in the last 6 months or so, got an upgrade to a Sony Ericsson, noticed it did music and started using it as such.
This normal user doesn’t care about Apple.
I’m willing to bet she’d take an ipod if you gave her one – they’re stylish and very appealing. However, she’s clearly quite content to use the Sony Ericsson.
What’s more, it’s working for her. That’s the alarming thing. Way back when — years ago when Sony’s forward thinking people really screwed up and released stupid non-mp3 compatible devices, Apple and other MP3 player manufacturers could rest a little: the competition, even from giants such as Sony, was pathetic. It was only the geeks who could be bothered to get their NetWalkmans to work properly.
When you come into contact with NORMAL people using technology in this way, you know there’s trouble ahead for dedicated MP3 player manufacturers.
Convenience, convenience, convenience.
Whether you like it or not, consumers are using mobiles as their walkmans.
